NEW YORK — Glenn Beck returns to Fox News Channel on Monday after a vacation with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist.

A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago.

While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows.

The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that it has decided not to advertise on political talk shows.

The shows present a dilemma for advertisers, who usually like a "safe" environment for their messages. The Olbermanns, Hannitys, O'Reillys, Maddows and Becks of the TV world are more likely to say something that will anger a viewer, who might take it out on sponsors.

They also host the most-watched programs on their networks.

"This is a good illustration of that conundrum," said Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, which he said has temporarily halted buying ads on Fox News Channel as a whole.

Beck can bring the eyeballs. With the health care debate raising political temperatures, his show had its biggest week ever right before his vacation, averaging 2.4 million viewers each day, according to Nielsen Media Research.Story continues below

He was actually on another Fox show July 28 when he referred to Obama as a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." The network immediately distanced itself from Beck's statement, but Beck didn't. He used his radio show the next day to explain why he believed that. He would not comment for this article, spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said.

ColorofChange.org quickly targeted companies whose ads had appeared during Beck's show, telling them what he had said and seeking a commitment to drop him. The goal is to make Beck a liability, said James Rucker, the organization's executive director.

"They have a toxic asset," Rucker said. "They can either clean it up or get rid of it."

It's not immediately clear how many of the companies actually knew they were advertising on Beck's show. Sometimes commercial time is chosen for a specific show, but often it is bought on a rotation basis, meaning the network sprinkles the ads throughout the day on its own schedule. Sometimes ads appear by mistake; Best Buy said it bought commercial time for earlier in the day, and one of its ads unexpectedly appeared in Beck's show.

One company, CVS Caremark, said it advertises on Fox but hadn't said anything about Beck. Now it has told its advertising agency to inform Fox that it wanted no commercials on Beck.

"We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful," said spokeswoman Carolyn Castel.

Besides the unpredictability of the opinionated cable hosts, the rapid pace of today's wired world complicates decisions on where to place ads, said Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokeswoman for Sprint. She said she was surprised at how fast the Beck issue spread across social media outlets and how quickly advertiser names were attached to it.

UPS' Hallabran said the decision to pull commercials "should not be interpreted as we are permanently withdrawing our advertising from Fox." He said the company wants to reach viewers with a wide spectrum of opinions.

Except for UPS Stores, there's no evidence that any advertisers who say they don't want to be on Beck's show are leaving Fox. Network spokeswoman Irena Briganti said the companies have simply requested the ads be moved elsewhere and that Fox hasn't lost any revenue.

She wouldn't say whether Fox was benefiting from any anti-anti-Beck backlash, with companies looking to support him. Some Beck supporters have urged fans to express their displeasure at companies for abandoning their man.

Beck supporters have suggested that retaliation might have something to do with ColorofChange.org's campaign. One of the group's founders, Van Jones, now works in the Obama administration and has been criticized by Beck. But Rucker said Jones has nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn't even know about the campaign before it started.

Beck's strong ratings – even at 5 p.m. EDT he often outdraws whatever CNN and MSNBC show in prime-time – make it unlikely Beck is going anywhere even as the list of advertisers avoiding him approaches three dozen.

But it could mean advertising time becomes cheaper on his show than such a large audience would normally command. Some of his show's advertisers last week included a male enhancement pill, a law firm looking to sue on behalf of asbestos victims, a company selling medical supplies to diabetics and a water filter company.

Rucker said ColorofChange.org has contacted about 60 companies regarding Beck, and is heartened by the response.

"It's causing a certain conversation around Beck, which I think is important," he said.

I'm a conservative/libetarian admittingly, so my view point is fairly skewed on this. I also do find Beck a bit of a whack-o half the time, and this statement I think he made was not very wise on his part, something I don't really agree with.

That all being said, this just reeks of Chicago-Style politics.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

Glenn Beck is a shitbag, i'm glad this happened. Maybe between bouts of on the air crying, calling for an armed secessionist movement, and supporting dumbshit Birthers, he can see his stupid show get canned. But it's Fox, they'll just find another moron to pimp the lies that network wallows in. Like pigs in shit.

Beck is my most hated form of conservative. Ultra-religious, holier than now, plays to the least common denominator, turns everything in to a culture war, and just generally annoying. The less he is talking to the public the better, and I am conservative.

Ziner wrote:Beck is my most hated form of conservative. Ultra-religious, holier than now, plays to the least common denominator, turns everything in to a culture war, and just generally annoying. The less he is talking to the public the better, and I am conservative.

Oh and just to balance CDT, Fuck MSNBC "News"

That's fine, I barely watch MSNBC. I watch KO's show at the quater till mark to see the "worst persons" segement. That's about it.

I just love watching Fox getting kicked in the face. What Colorofchange.org has to say is no concern of mine. I have no interest in their agenda, other than seeing Fox bleed money. Which is funny to me.

Triple-S wrote:I'm a conservative/libetarian admittingly, so my view point is fairly skewed on this. I also do find Beck a bit of a whack-o half the time, and this statement I think he made was not very wise on his part, something I don't really agree with.

That all being said, this just reeks of Chicago-Style politics.

I agree with all of this. Think before you speak, Glenn. There are things that should just not be said.

At the same time, it's not ok for someone on FoxNews to call somebody a racist, but it is ok for somebody on MSNBC to call the tea party people racists?...:

“This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up.” - Janeane Garofalo on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann".

This story isn't about what Glenn Beck said. It's about going after a conservative who has become worrisome to the liberal machine because he's gained a lot of listeners recently.

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"And three of the better guys in franchise history, Daugherty, Z and now Kyrie could get hurt in a rubber room full of cotton balls." - Leadpipe

e0y2e3 wrote:FWIW: MSNBC has the best news show of all with Morning Joe. Scarborough is outstanding and the show in all is just an entertaining while semi-informative watch.

I agree, I dont watch it too much because now that I work from home I dont get ready anymore, its more of a roll out of bed and 15 steps. But when I used to actually shower and change, I thought Morning Joe was a very good show. Fox and Friends in the morning is brutal. I liked it when Scarborough was on in the evening.

Ain't gonna work. Beck's viewers are going to rally behind him; patronize the companies that continue to sponsor him and counter-boycott the companies that don't. The guy is too popular to shut down in this fashion, and he can claim martyr status to boot.

CNN had no problem booting him, their network is shit regardless. The people who watch his show, watch Fox anyhow. And I doubt Beck and his minions could feel like bigger martrys, they were nailing themselves to crosses the second the election results came in.

This story isn't about what Glenn Beck said. It's about going after a conservative who has become worrisome to the liberal machine because he's gained a lot of listeners recently.

HAH! "Worrisome". As a Liberal, i'd like to see sad sack Beck stay on the air, him and his teabagging viewers are fun to laugh at and mock. There is something so funny about a grown man crying on National TV over an election.

To go after his advertisers in an effort to shut him up is chicken shit and un-American.

Righties did the exact same thing to Bill Maher in 2001, after his comments about the 9/11 Hijackers. Not saying you're wrong, I agree to an extent, but I doubt if this was about Keith Olbermann instead of Beck, the reaction would be the same.

My advice to liberals would be not to shut Beck up, let him speak, this is high entertainment. Don't deny me my laughs, because you don't like the comedian. This is all the Righties have right now, let them stomp their feet, cry, and make a big scene. Then use it against them in 2012.

Hah! Tripods...... You stupid little bitch. You're just upset i'm kicking your righty loving network in the face. Do you still have Dick Morris' poster above your bed, surrounded by little heart stickers? Or is it Dick Cheney? One of those May/December things, eh? Don't worry i'm not judging, you like the Dicks, that's fine, what you put in your mouth is no concern of mine. Just be safe and don't let daddy Limbaugh find out.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:Hah! Tripods...... You stupid little bitch. You're just upset i'm kicking your righty loving network in the face. Do you still have Dick Morris' poster above your bed, surrounded by little heart stickers? Or is it Dick Cheney? One of those May/December things, eh? Don't worry i'm not judging, you like the Dicks, that's fine, what you put in your mouth is no concern of mine. Just be safe and don't let daddy Limbaugh find out.

I don't watch Fox News. I don't watch any cable news. I don't watch any news. The sight of Obama as President makes my skin crawl.

I do not have any Dick Morris posters in my room, no Dick Cheney, and nothing resembling a dick on my wall or ceiling.

Why all this constant talk of Limbaugh with me? I don't even listen to the guy. In fact, I didn't even know he was still alive.

And if I "liked the dicks" as you describe, I probably would not be the hardcore Conservative that I am.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

"Hey there's a huge ass number of people who happen to lean right, listen to Limbaugh daily and make money, lets make them a channel that caters to that and watch the money poor in".

That's a huge market to grab for. Businessmen tune in nightly, happen to make money and it makes it easy as hell for people that advertise for insurance, vacation resort packages,luxury cars, etc, are able to reach their audience.

I sincerely doubt Murdoch or whomever is now running Fox News gives a crap about anything else. It's a cash cow and they're infamous for taking chances. While other channels were airing "Full House" and family friendly sitcoms, Fox was trying to field the most raunchy programs ever. It worked like a charm, and the people that complained? It simply got more and more people to turn on the channel and figure out what the hell was going to be on next. I bet you the same thing happens with O'Reilly and any other conservative talking head on the network.

It's exactly the same type of thing that with Howard Stern in "Private Parts"

Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - an hour and twenty minutes.Pig Vomit: How can that be?Researcher: Answer most commonly given? "I want to see what he'll say next."Pig Vomit: Okay, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.Pig Vomit: But... if they hate him, why do they listen?Researcher: Most common answer? "I want to see what he'll say next."

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Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

I used to listen to Beck when he was on the radio in the morning on the way to CSU. At that time he still had a slight toe hold in the realm of reality but that quickly was lost. I really do not enjoy listening to extremists on either side of the aisle as all they do is offer a one sided rant without any real discussion. Beck definitely fits this mold.

Also, I really dont understand this fascination with the TV pundits, again, regardless of whether its left or right. All that is given is a one sided view expressed with the attempt to make the audience fear and/or hate the opposition. These kind of tactics do nothing to improve the landscape of American politics.

“Baseball is like church. Many attend but few understand.”- Wes Westrum

"The future is like a Japanese game show, we have no idea whats going on." - Tracy Jordan

"Gentlemen, Chicolini here may talk like an idiot and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot."-Rufus T. Firefly

jack_tors wrote:Also, I really dont understand this fascination with the TV pundits, again, regardless of whether its left or right. All that is given is a one sided view expressed with the attempt to make the audience fear and/or hate the opposition. These kind of tactics do nothing to improve the landscape of American politics.

I feel the same way.

Why do these shows exist? To me, they're driven by man's need to fit into a group. There is strength in numbers, safety in belonging, sanity in finding like-minded individuals. These shows constantly soothe their base audience's social needs with a repeated patern of panic induction and self adulation. A bond grows among viewers, comfort is grasped, then stripped, then grasped.

It's a pretty cheap thrill to induce panic and then self soothe, but wait- isn't that what sports do? The danger is that in politics, peoples freedoms and lives are at stake- so, as a public service, TV and radio forums should really be less of a pep-rally circle jerk and more of an expression of thought. But, these guys aren't public servants; they exist serve and manipulate their audience's base social needs.

I'm not going to come out and say Obama is a racist, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was given a.) his associations the last two decades and b.) that minorities are pretty much openly taught to dislike whites (especially white men) by the culture, the media, and the educational system in this country.

HermanFontenot wrote:I'm not going to come out and say Obama is a racist, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was given a.) his associations the last two decades and b.) that minorities are pretty much openly taught to dislike whites (especially white men) by the culture, the media, and the educational system in this country.

Sort of sums it up.

When you have some guy dressing up like he's the extra to Earth, Wind and Fire "Let's Groove" video, saying stuff like this:

Who happens to be your preacher for the past 20 or so years,You have to be a bit skeptical that the guy's views aren't reflected.

While Glenn Beck did say something really foolish, it's not like it could possibly have some legs to it.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:lol. What does Jerimiah Wright video prove? That Wright is another whacky Christian? He's an idiot. What he says is just as dumb as "They hate us for our freedom".

Obama sat in his church for 20 years. TWENTY YEARS while he was saying crap like this. The fact that he didn't leave within X amount of days after hearing the garbage come out of his mouth says a lot.

Bush is an idiot, but lets not get off subject discussing the stupid things he did while being president. (Hint, Him and John McCain are not true Conservative/Republicans)

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

Palin's nutty Pastor is an African witch hunter. Do you know for a fact Wright said these things for 20 years? He's an idiot, no doubt. But it's no worse than Palin and her Pastor or McCain bowing and scraping to Falwell, Robertson, and Hagee when it helped him politically. What about Ensing, Sanford and the rest of the Republicans involved with "The Family" on C Street?